


With You

by three_coffee_spoons



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 02:00:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18511621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/three_coffee_spoons/pseuds/three_coffee_spoons
Summary: Based on the prompt “We need to talk.”





	With You

It started during a quiet night at home. You had been dating Rafael for a few months and, after a particularly rough day for both of you, Rafael showed up on your doorstep with a bag of your favourite takeout in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. Wanting a distraction from the day’s stressful events, you put on a random movie as Rafael uncorked the bottle of wine.

“Ugh, this character is so stupid,” you groaned, gesturing with your chopsticks to the blonde on the screen. “Setting off the flare gun while they were hiding from the flesh-eating albino squirrels was bad enough, but did she really have to text her boyfriend ‘We need to talk’ while he was out searching for medical supplies?”

Rafael was too busy chewing to verbally respond, but nodded in agreement.

“I mean,” you continued to complain through bites of Chinese food. “She could have at least told him what she wanted to talk about. That way, he wouldn’t have had to worry about it while fighting off that zombie hippopotamus. Plus, he would have known that she hid the diamonds in that taxidermy giraffe before the monkey ninjas arrived. But, no, she had to be stupid and text him one of the worst things you can ever text someone.” You threw your hands up in the air for emphasis, accidentally flinging some chow mein onto the couch.

“Don’t even get me started on those monkey ninjas,” Rafael grumbled as he speared a dumpling with his chopsticks.

You and Rafael were silent for a while, content to be in each other’s company and watch, what you would later declare, the best worst movie in existence.

“Hey, Raf,” You said, turning your attention from the bad acting and campy dialogue to him. “We need to talk.”

His eyes flicked from the screen to your face, raising an eyebrow.

“About who gets the last egg roll,” you cheekily smiled as you held up the egg roll in question with your chopsticks.

From that night on, we need to talk became your and Rafael’s favourite inside joke. It even became a friendly competition to see who could come up with the most mundane, hilarious, or just downright weird statement. Of course, neither of you were keeping score, but you thought Rafael was probably in the lead after his text of, We need to talk…About Carisi trying my patience >:( 

Over the course of your three-year-long relationship with Rafael, you must have exchanged hundreds of we need to talk texts. In fact, Rafael swore that you had a sixth sense because you always seemed to send them when he was having a bad day.

Take last Wednesday, for instance. Rafael had spilled coffee on his shirt and was changing into one of the spares he kept in his office when his phone lit up with messages from you,

We need to talk

About the Avengers Initiative

Or that day last month when key evidence for a case was declared inadmissible. After consulting with Liv on the courthouse steps, he checked his phone to discover two texts waiting for him,

We need to talk

About your ass in those pants ;)

Or how about the time he was sick with the flu. Miraculously, you were able to persuade him to stay home from work. After making sure he was comfortable, you went out to pick-up medicine and surprise him with soup from his favourite Cuban deli that was halfway across the city. As he was lying on the couch, huddled in blankets and miserably watching daytime television, his cellphone chimed.

We need to talk

About racoon hands (are they tiny people hands or do people have large racoon hands???)

P.S. You better be relaxing and NOT working!

Which brings us to tonight with Rafael stuck at his office, drowning in paperwork.

Rafael was at his desk pouring over witness testimonies with his trusty gold pen in hand. His suit jacket was off, his sleeves were rolled up, and dark circles were beginning to form under his eyes. Case files surrounded him on three sides, giving him the appearance of a weary king living in a castle made of precariously stacked files.

In the middle of mumbling about how the defense wouldn’t know a good plea deal if it bit them in the ass, his cellphone vibrated from atop one of the piles. He scowled at the interruption until he noticed the text was from you.

We need to talk

A second message followed almost immediately.

About Fight Club

A faint smile began to appear on Rafael’s lips as a third message arrived.

…Oops!

Rafael’s small smile escalated into a wide grin as he began typing a reply, letting you know that he would be home late.

Hours later, an exhausted Rafael entered your shared apartment. Loosening his tie, he walked into the living room to discover that you had waited up for him. His heart swelled with love at the sight of you sprawled across the couch.

“Hey,” you smiled lazily at him and made room for him on the couch, the soft hum of the television in the background.

“Hi, cariño. You didn’t have to wait up.”

Rafael made his way over to you, gently kissing the top of your head before collapsing beside you.

“I wanted to,” You told him, rearranging your blanket to cover Rafael. You frowned slightly as you noticed the dark circles under his eyes. “There’s a plate of food for you in the fridge if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks, cariño, but I already ate.”

“Something healthy or did you have those cookies you like from the vending machine?”

“The cookies may have made an appearance,” Rafael admitted.

“I figured,” you said, leaving the couch to go heat up the food. “I know you too well, Rafael Barba.”

Movement on the television screen caught Rafael’s eye and he smiled when he realized what you were watching. “Is this that terrible movie you forced me to watch when we first started dating?”

“Uh, I think you mean the best worst movie in existence,” you corrected from the kitchen.

Rafael rolled his eyes, but didn’t object.

“And besides,” you continued. “From what I remember, you got pretty into it.”

“I did not!” Rafael scoffed.

“Well, you can turn the channel if you want,” you said, returning from the kitchen with the plate of food in one hand and a drink in the other. “I mean it’s not like someone’s favourite part with the cyborg lemurs is coming up.”

“It is?” Rafael eagerly asked as he gratefully accepted the plate. “I guess we can finish it, then.”

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want it to seem like I’m forcing you,” you teased, nestling into your usual position at his side.

Rafael nodded, the ends of his lips turning upwards as the cyborg lemurs appeared on the screen. For the rest of the movie, however, Rafael’s attention was focused solely on you. Since coming into his life three years ago, you had always made him feel safe and loved. Asking you to move-in with him had been one of the best decisions he ever made; you made his apartment feel like a home the moment you walked through the door with your first overstuffed box. He was in love with you, all of you, including your horrible taste in movies.

He only hoped that you felt the same way about him.

“We need to talk,” Rafael suddenly announced as the credits began to roll.

You shifted from your position under his arm so that you could face him, a smile playing on your lips in anticipation of Rafael’s witty punchline.

But what happened next was not what you expected.

Instead of a joke, Rafael got down on one knee and pulled a small black box from his pocket. A small black box that he had nervously carried around for the last week as he agonized over the perfect way to present it to you.

“About how I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”


End file.
